School Days | A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Nephis ran a hand through her hair in frustration as she continued to methodically arrange files across her bedroom. Something wasn't adding up, although she had ordered for her maids to investigate every fact of the life of the man named Gilead, there was still a three-year gap missing where he seemed to vanish off the earth.

'What the hell happened in those three years?' If she understood correctly, during those times Sunny would have at least been twelve to thirteen, meaning that he had encountered such a man from an extremely young age.

A knock pulled her away from her machinations as she unceremoniously shoved the files beneath her bed before hurriedly rushing to the door.

"Yes, who is it?" Her voice was calm and indifferent, however her facade nearly crumbled as Sunny's body came into view. In only a few days of being properly fed, his muscle mass had increased tremendously, his abs showed through the soaked form of his shirt as Nephis struggled to have her eyes fixed on his eyes instead of downward.

Sunny wore an embarrassed expression across his face as he offered Nephis a warm smile, "Hey Neph, I was wondering where I should put all my sweaty clothing. I'm not really used to doing it this way, but I don't want to mess up your house." His meek tone elicited a slight smile from Nephis as she cocked her head to the side.

"Just give it to me, it'll be washed by the end of today." Outstretching her hand, Sunny's face shot red as his voice became stuck in his throat. "Are you sure I should give you my sweaty shirt? I don't want your room smelling of me." Nephis merely shook her head indifferently before gesturing to her windows.

"I'm in charge of laundry duty anyway, and plus my room is well ventilated so you'll be fine. Just hand it over, but more importantly. How have you been? Mentally that is." Her slight shift of the subject was both born out of a desire to have Sunny pry no deeper to her intentions than he already had, and out of genuine concern.

Although Sunny's physical state was improving by leaps and bounds since he first met Nephis, his mental state was much more uncertain. The smile he wore around her was genuine, yet still he struggled in truly trusting people, or displaying his true emotions.

Sunny shrugged slightly, a small smile gracing his features. "I'm fine mostly, training always helps me take my mind off...the past. Speaking of which, do you have anywhere in the house that I can run around in?" It was a peculiar request, but Nephis didn't mind. Her thoughts were much more focused on a different fact.

"Sunny, I'm fine with letting you train in the house. But please I just need you to answer one question for me." Sunny turned his head slightly in confusion, the tone of her voice making it sound like whatever question he was about to be asked wouldn't be a pleasant one. And yet, he nodded anyway.

"What made you start training, or more importantly, who? All the work outs I've seen you do are all combat related. At least that's what I think." A large grimace quickly graced his features as his mind and body forced him to answer, Sunny's lips trembled attempting to remain shut, yet they parted anyway, against his will.

His answer came out more as a cough than a well constructed sentence. "Morgan! Morgan from Valor!" Falling to a knee, Sunny let out a few light coughs as Nephis moved to keep him stable, a hand running through his hair gently to calm him down.

Sunny let out a trembling breathe as he looked away from Nephis, trying his hardest not to meet her eye. "I'm fine! Just, stop asking about my past...I'm begging you." With that, Sunny pulled himself away from her arms, taking off his shirt and briskly making his way downstairs.

Nephis didn't attempt to follow, simply watching him go with a torn expression on her face. A single thought branded her mind and refused to escape her thoughts, 'Where did he get that tattoo from?'

It wasn't a regular one, it was a coiling tattoo of a snake that spanned across his right arm. The scales the creature bore almost seemed to shimmer if one focused on them for long enough, and the thick, permanent ink that had been used to create it stood out never leaving ones attention upon noticing it.

But then, a realisation struck Nephis. At the head of the snake, which was roughly located on Sunny's forearm, his skin had been contorted slightly. It had been bent and twisted...exactly like the effects of someone who had been branded by hot iron.

Grabbing his shirt off the floor, she made her way into her room before slamming herself into the bed. Her hands were balled into such tight fists that she almost drew blood. Anger boiled into her features, her usually silver eyes flashing red as she gritted her teeth in anger.

"Those bastards, they branded Sunny!" Bursting out her room, she stormed downstairs before turning to one of the maids, fury blazing in her eyes. "Where is Sunny?" She growled, tapping her foot impatiently at even a moment of hesitation.

"He's out in the garden."

Nodding slightly, Nephis pushed past every door, flinging open the door to her garden before taking Sunny's sight into view. What she saw was beautiful. He painted a beautiful arc into the air with a series of kicks while remaining supremely nimble, she had never seen a human move like that, much less Sunny.

Finally noticing her presence, he froze as she stormed towards him. "I'm sorry for lashing out!" Were the only words he could make out before Nephis grasped his arm firmly, Sunny was left in a state of shock as she deeply analysed every inch of the snake that spanned across his right arm.

Suddenly, her touch danced across his skin causing him to shudder slightly. With supreme grace, she grasped his forearm and traced her skin across his, feeling the twisted and contorted skin that glanced against hers.

Turning to him with a look of rage, not directed at him, but something grander and far more insidious. Nephis mouth parted, the words that escaped her lips born out of pure concern and all-encompassing hatred.

"Sunny, what did they do to you!?" She shouted, Sunny was slightly taken aback by her sudden exclamation before his eyes sunk downwards. "Bad things, I don't want to talk about it. Please, it's for your safety too. If you get involved with them, you'll...you'll die!"

Nephis eyes widened slightly, the true scale of what Sunny had gone through alone finally settling itself upon her shoulders. However, she pushed forward, if there was a cross Sunny had to bear, she would bear it with him. "Sunny I'm not going to stop asking, don't you want revenge!?"

At the word revenge, Sunny's eyes flashed with rage, deep unfathomable rage that he was unable to contain. "Don't you think I've tried! I've tried already, thousands of times! They have leverage over me, I can't win! Everyone who's helped me has ended up just like you're going to if you don't stay away from me! They ended up dead!"

Grabbing Nephis, Sunny pulled her in close, the fury in his eyes only multiplying as he hissed at her silently so nobody, but Nephis could hear.

"Morgan, Gilead, all of them. They aren't people who can be beaten through money, and I don't want to beat them. I want to kill all of them. But I can't, because I'm weak, I'm pathetic and I ruin everything around me. And I'm going to ruin you too if I stay here longer than I have."

Releasing her from his grip, Sunny turned around towards the fencing that covered Nephis house. Despite it's monumental size, Sunny cleared half the height in a single leap before pushing himself up off the ridges between the bricks and clearing the fence entirely.

Standing atop it, he glanced back at Nephis, fury in her eyes overwhelmed by immense sadness as he turned back to look at her. "I'm sorry, and thank you, for everything. Even if you didn't intend it, you reminded me what it felt like to be loved. To be cared for."

And with that, Sunny was gone. Disappearing from her life just as suddenly as he came.